DeMint to sit out 2014 elections at Heritage

12/11/12 12:34 PM EST

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), the tea party leader who raised his profile taking on his party establishment in Senate primaries, will sit on the sidelines during the 2014 midterms when he becomes head of the Heritage Foundation.

"I am anxious to get away from the political angles, the partisan angles and focus on just the ideas," DeMint told POLITICO on Tuesday. "Hopefully candidates will embrace these ideas. But part of what we have to do is convince Americans that the ideas are right."

Asked if he would endorse candidates in primaries, DeMint flatly said: "No."

DeMint announced last week he would leave his job as South Carolina's junior senator in January to lead the conservative Heritage Foundation. But as head of Heritage, DeMint appears limited in the type of political activities he can undertake, given its status under the Tax Code as a 501 c3 organization.

DeMint's decision to sit out could give the National Republican Senatorial Committee some room to operate as it decides whether to re-engage in Senate primaries in 2014. The battles between tea party activists, backed by DeMint, and the NRSC damaged GOP chances in the 2010 cycle. The NRSC sat out of primaries in 2012, but the end result was a two-seat Democratic gain.

Still, other conservative organizations plan to be active in primaries, including the Senate Conservatives Fund, which DeMint founded. The group has propped up underdog conservative candidates in primaries across the country.